


A Galatic Implosion/A Stellar Invasion

by the merienes tranch (lilhalphys)



Series: in which taako owes lucretia a favor [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Fluff, Valentine's Day Fluff, bowling, uhh shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-18 18:22:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13687239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilhalphys/pseuds/the%20merienes%20tranch
Summary: It’s the first Valentine’s Day since Lup and Lucretia started dating, and she wants it to be good. No, fuck that, she's gonna make damn sure this is the best day of Lucretia’s life.





	A Galatic Implosion/A Stellar Invasion

**Author's Note:**

> <3

Lup puffs out her cheeks, holding her breath a moment before letting it all out with a huff.

The collar of her annoyingly red school uniform puts just a bit too much pressure on her throat. Not enough to choke her, but enough that she feels it whenever she swallows. Which is a lot because, yanno, she’s a little bit nervous. 

It’s the first Valentine’s Day since she and Lucretia started dating, and she wants it to be good. No, fuck that, Lup is gonna make damn sure this is the best day of Lucretia’s life, and she puffs out her chest to prove it to herself, to the empty hallway.

To the door in front of her, placard beside it reading “121 - Highchurch (Science)”. She can almost hear the sound of the trivia team’s buzzers going off, and she can  _ definitely  _ hear their various jovial shouts. Above it all, she can hear Lucretia laugh and, god, it’s such a beautiful laugh. Lup pulls the bouquet closer to her chest with a soft, lovestruck sigh.

Taako had explicitly warned her against holiday cliches. “Stay away from that tacky shit, sis. You’re better than that,” he had said. And then Magnus had burst in on their conversation to inform them that no, “that tacky shit” was the exact brand of sap that Lucretia was into. 

So here Lup stands, having already ditched softball practice to procure the plastic flowers and best box of chocolates she could reasonably afford, waiting for practice to end. She’s never really been that patient, so the seconds drag by like fragile toothpicks through cherry Jello. 

After an eternity of far too much sugar, the door finally creaks open. Lup can hear everyone’s voices at their full audio for only a moment because as soon as Lucretia walks through, dutifully first, Lup’s entire world narrows. She’s laughing at something somebody said, radiant smile lighting up her eyes, and, damn it Lup, you can’t do this every time you see your girlfriend. Heart palpitations so often will kill you.

Lucretia freezes as soon as she notices Lup standing there, both of them mouth agape and a little bit dumbstruck. 

Lup figures herself out first, presenting the bouquet to Lucretia with one outstretched arm. “Here, babe! Happy Valentine’s Day! I, uh,” she looks over Lucretia’s shoulder, “I think that maybe after being in a room with so many real plants for, like, an hour, these plastic ones might not be so impressive, but-”

Lucretia, already blushing and covering the bottom half of her face with a hand, reaches forward and takes the bouquet. “Oh, no, these are perfect, Lup. You,” she gives Lup a once over, “You’re wearing your uniform correctly?”

Lup laughs, half from the melting tension and half from the complete disbelief in Lucretia’s voice. “Of course, Lucy! Only the best for you, babe.”

And she wraps an arm over Lucretia’s shoulders, moving to lead them out of the school building. She casts one last glance over her shoulder and is met with Taako’s disgusted impression. Glaring back, Lup uses every ounce of her twin connection with him to express that  _ of course she has other plans, she isn’t  _ that  _ pathetic _ . 

Once they get into her car, Lup retrieves the chocolates from her bag, precariously balancing the box on the armrest between the two front seats. Lucretia gasps, almost squeaks, when she sees them, not hesitating for even a moment before digging in. 

“Holy shit, babe,” and her words come out with more breath than voice, “this is the best thing I’ve put in my mouth in my entire life.”

Lup snickers, snapping her seatbelt into place before taking a chocolate of her own. “I try, Lucy.”

“No, you don’t understand. My French teacher held us so late from lunch that I only had time to eat a granola bar, and the only snacks at practice are Taako’s godawful Gogurt and Magnus’ protein shit. I needed this.” Lucretia snaps her own seatbelt on, sighing as she leans back into the seat. She reaches between them, over the box, and takes Lup’s hand in hers.

Lup bring’s Lucretia’s hand to her lips and kisses it with a whole lot less delicateness than she maybe should have. Mischief glints in her eyes as she pulls away. “I’m glad I could do this for you, then. Now, an unrelated question, babe: what’s your shoe size?”

 

~

“Falling apart” would be a nice way of describing the bowling alley’s exterior. Save for the bright, reflective sign, the whole building could do for nothing less than a new layer of plaster, and half the walls probably need to just be redone. 

So when Lucretia says, “It could certainly use a powerwash”, Lup can’t help but laugh.

“That’s one way of putting it, baby.” Lup leans in, casually letting her lips graze Lucretia’s cheek.

She giggles, her gaze remaining steady on the building as they approach. “New Elflington bowling, huh? What happened to Old Elfington?”

Lup gives her a wry grin. “Burned down, and they let it ‘cause they didn’t know why it was called ‘Old Elfington’ anyway.”

Lucretia hisses at that, and Lup full out laughs again, pulling her close as they walk inside.

The inside of the bowling alley fared much better, the low lighting inspiring a nostalgia for a decade neither of them even lived through. Soft music plays through old speakers, sounding almost like white noise as it reverberates through the alley.

 

Lup sighs. This alley was like a home for her and Taako one summer in middle school. The two of them spent hours here eating junk food and not getting any better at bowling. 

 

There isn’t a line for shoe rentals, and a good three-quarters of the lanes are empty, letting them get started with efficiency. Except,

“I’m sorry, I don’t have any good bowling name ideas. Doesn’t ‘Lucy’ work just fine?”

“No, no, no. Baby. Who raised you? Have you never bowled before?”

“I already told you, dear. I haven’t!”

Lup sighs. “Shame. It’s really fun.”

Lucretia walks up right behind her, pulling her close as she mulls over the name-input touchscreen. “I believe you. Which is why I’d like to start playing.”

Lup leans back, kissing Lucretia on the nose. “Fine, I’ll just put you in as-”

“Supernova?”

“Yeah, because, like, you’re so beautiful! And you make stars appear in your eyes like, all the time.”

And Lucretia just kinda short circuits at that.

~

Lup wouldn’t say she’s like, good at bowling. But Lucretia is pretty terrible. She can barely lift the lightest balls, and she looks at the lane like she looks at chess boards. Except Lucretia is really good at chess.

After Lucretia’s third consecutive gutter ball, Lup lets out a low whistle. “You kinda suck at this, babe.”

Lucretia rolls her eyes and scoffs. “Maybe, but,” she walks over and stands very, very close to Lup, “I think you’ve also been distracting me a bit.” She lays her hands gently on Lup’s chest for a moment, and Lup’s breath catches in her throat. Lucretia sighs a bit, before

Before unbuttoning the first two button’s of Lup’s jacket and loosening her collar, leaning away with hands on her hips, looking proud of herself.

Now it’s Lup’s turn to short circuit.

“Sorry, dear, you just confuse me so, wearing your uniform correctly like that.”

And Lup collapses with laughter, falling into Lucretia’s chest. She ends up laughing too, ever-radiant. The two of them stay up like that for a moment, supporting all of their weight on each other, before they slip to the smelly bowling alley floor. 

 

~

“Don’t take this the wrong way, love.”

“Of course, Lucy.”

“The carpet here is just hideous.”

Lup is very glad that she didn’t have and milkshake in her mouth when Lucretia said that with how hard she snorts. They finished bowling a while ago, finally getting themselves together long enough for Lup to just  _ destroy _ Lucretia.

Now they’re cuddling in the booth at a sticky round table, a small order of curly fries and the now-empty box of chocolates sitting between them beside their milkshake. 

“Why’re you looking at the ugly carpet when my beautiful face is right here?”

“Mm...you’re right.” Lucretia leans in for a quick kiss, and Lup meets her halfway, sighing contentedly when their lips meet.

They’re both startled by a loud bang and shouted curse coming from the back room. Lup knows it’s the small arcade attached to the alley, but Lucretia seems absolutely perplexed.

“What the hell was tha-ah!”

Before Lucretia could finish her sentence, Lup had grabbed her by the wrist and started leading her to the back room. Oh, please, please, please…

Lup nearly jumps for joy when she enters the arcade to find a frustrated child with their forehead resting on one of the machines. It’s the Token Fighting Game, too. Sure, it isn’t the exact one Lup remembers, but they’re all similar enough that she knows she’ll relearn it easily enough.

She turns her head towards Lucretia, silently pressing a finger to her lips, before looking back at the child. “Hey, kid. Almost had it?”

The child sighs. “Yeah…”

“Awwh, what a shame… Any chance you could teach me to play?”

And she makes sure to fuck up as much as she possibly can, wincing everytime and hamming it up. She occasionally spares Lucretia a glance over her shoulder, and the way she has her hand up in front of her face, doing nowhere near as much as she could be to hide her giggles, gives Lup even more confidence.

After about five minutes of this fiasco, Lup turns to the kid and says, “You know, I think I could take you on. In fact,” she points one finger up into the air, and her facade nearly breaks when she hears Lucretia snort behind her, “I’d bet five dollars on it.”

The kid looks flabbergasted for a moment, but it is quickly replaced with an adorable confidence. “Make it ten.”

Lucretia is audibly crying now, and Lup would bet way more than what she’s betting now that she’s just about doubled over in laughter too. “Deal,” Lup says.

It’s like time is moving slow and fast at the same time, Lup’s rusty fingers being tested on the machine. The kid is serviceable, for sure, but they probably don’t even realize what’s going on until “WINNER: P2” flashes in bright reds and yellows on the game screen less than a minute after their match begins.

The kid doesn’t seem sad, or even angry. They just glance quickly and fearfully between Lup and Lucretia. “I, I don’t have ten dollars...Is there anything else? That I can give you instead?”

Lup strokes her forefinger over her chin. “Hmm, well…”

 

~

“I can’t believe you just hustled a child.”

“I can’t believe you just stood there and laughed while I hustled a child, Lucy.”  
“Well I can’t believe you actually took his shoes.”

Lup elbows her playfully in the side. “C’mon, babe, he had another pair.

Before they get in the car, Lucretia puts a hand on Lup’s shoulder and tells her to wait. She pulls her bag in front of her, rummaging around in it for a moment.

“Oh babe, you didnt-”

The thing that comes out of the bag in Lucretia’s hand is wrapped in crinkly plastic. It’s, it’s a softball glove, with different designs, from little fireballs to the trans pride flag to the phrase ‘lol gay’ in Taako’s handwriting, sewn and written on the leather.

Lucretia extends the package towards her, filling the space between them with it.

“Everyone on the Star Blasters has a like, thing. An object. Taako has his worry stone, Barry has his cat’s chintzy collar, and so on. I,” she takes a shaking breath, “I wanted you to have one of your own, Lup. I know you don’t have time to be on the team, but you’re always gonna be an honorary member. To me, anyway.” Her whole face splits with her smile, her eyes shining in the low light.

Lup takes the glove under one arm and pulls Lucretia, her girlfriend, her supernova, in with the other.

She’s crying when she says. “Happy Valentine’s Day, babe. I love you so, so much.”

Lucretia gives a small laugh, wrapping both arms across Lup’s back. “Happy Valentine’s day, darling. First of many?”

“Oh, hell yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> who was that child? why, of course it was [whatever taz npc makes it the best joke]!
> 
> anyway, happy valentine's day all! please comment/kudos if you liked it!
> 
> you might notice that this is listed as part of a series! im not sure if im gonna write anything else for it yet, but im sure itll be a really fun littke au if i do! <3


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